When I Grow Up
by Nikki1212
Summary: She promised, that when she grew stronger, they would walk together, and she wouldn't be left in their shadow.  Oneshot ; Song fic ; SakuTeam7


**_A/N: Well, here's a new Song Fic I've been thinking about for a while :P. _**

**_The Song is : Garbage - When I Grow Up_**

**_And the AMV that inspired this is on my profile :)_**

**_Enjoy!_**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Garbage's "When I Grow Up.".**

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Weak.

_Pathetic._

_**Useless.**_

Lying in bed, Haruno Sakura thought of the most common words used to describe her thirteen year old self. Curling up into a ball, she pressed her tear streaked and puffy face into her pillow as she clenched her white blankets in her hands tightly until her knuckles turned white with strain. The late moon's rays provided her with a bit of luminosity as they bathed the room in a milky light. The sun would be rising soon, and she hasn't been able to sleep with her thoughts running rampant. She let out a shuddering breath as she lifted her head from the pillow and lay on her side to stare out the window at nothing.

_Weak. _Sasuke said it plenty of times so she knew he meant it. She couldn't pull her own so he and Naruto had to constantly protect her from danger. The mission in the Land of Waves and the Chuunin Exams were enough evidence of that. She couldn't get a hold of her emotions and let them get in the way of her mission; crying over Sasuke at both times. She couldn't stop Sasuke from getting hit by senbon, and she couldn't stop Orochimaru from giving him the curse mark. She tried to protect him when it happened, she really did, but she was just too _weak. _He had to jump in and save her and poor Lee from the Sound Nins, or else she would've have been seriously injured. He also had to help defend her from Gaara of the Sands when she tried to intervene, even though she _knew _she wasn't at that level. So she just got in the way of everything, and caused him and Naruto to add her onto the burden on their shoulders. Her biggest failure though, was not stopping Sasuke from leaving the village. From leaving Naruto. From leaving Team 7. From leaving _her. _Because she was just so detestably _weak. _And Sakura _loathed _the word.

_Pathetic. _She was sure Naruto thought it every time he had to haul her sorry butt to safety every time she was caught in dangerous situations she couldn't handle. But he was too nice to say it, and encouraged her even though he knew it would fall on empty ears. Because, to her, Naruto was just _annoying _and _got in her way_. She was disgusted with herself, how could she say that when it was the other way around? He had protected her from Gaara, tried to ease her mind when Sasuke was in the hospital, and had even promised to bring him back from Sound. She was selfish, so irrevocably selfish for asking him—crying to him—at the gates to bring her "Sasuke-kun" back because she loved him and needed him. How could she have not seen how hurt he was by it, too? Why couldn't she realize that Team 7 was the only family he had, and losing Sasuke was like losing a brother? Instead, she thanked him pathetically as he left with the others to try and retrieve his lost brother. She had failed him, and she was _pathetic._ And Sakura desperately wished it wasn't so.

_Useless_. Kakashi most likely thought it every time his eyes fell on her. He would neglect her training because he knew that, that wasn't what she wanted to do. Instead, he let her continue her petty conquest of trying to win Sasuke's heart. He gave the other two on her team more attention than he gave her, and at times she hated him for it. But now, as she had her epiphany, how could she? How could she hate him when she didn't give him any other reason than being under his tutelage for teaching her? She wasn't motivated, it wasn't her focus, and he knew. He was _right_, and she _knew_, she was utterly _useless._

However, she was going to change all that. She wasn't going to be recognized as the "pink-haired girl with Naruto and Sasuke" anymore. No, she was going to make a name for herself and prove that she _was_ worthy of being on the same team as them—of being a ninja.

_**When I grow up,**_

From that moment on, Sakura decided she was going to get stronger for her boys. She was going to train and make them proud. She wasn't going to be weak anymore, dammit, that was a _promise of a lifetime! _

_**I'll be stable.**_

She wasn't going to be an emotional wreck on the battlefield anymore either. God help the poor fool who thought she would be the same cry baby from before and overlooked her. Next time, instead of crying, she and Naruto are going to bring Sasuke back _together. _And dammit, she'd break her legs before being pathetic ever again!

_**When I grow up,**_

She will work harder, strive to be better, and make Kakashi think twice before calling her useless. She willbe a deadly _shinobi—_not some pansy playing ninja to get a boy's attention!

_**I'll turn the tables.**_

The next time she and Naruto saw each other, she would make sure that she would be protecting him—instead of the other way around. She would be the one fighting the enemies while the boys hung back, and instead of being two steps behind her boys, she would be walking with them side-by-side towards a greater future.

Jumping off her bed and standing before the mirror, she saw a small, scraggly girl with twig arms and a body layered with barely any muscle. But the one thing that stood out the most was the fire in her viridian eyes, and the determination in her heart that shone through.

Staring at her reflection, she whispered with fierce determination,

"_**Don't take offence,**_

_**Better make amends,**_

_**Rip it all to shreds, and let go." **_

By the end of that day, Haruno Sakura was the Godaime Hokage's newest apprentice.

By the end of the year, Haruno Sakura was deemed a medical prodigy and feared for her monstrous strength.

By the end of the second year, Haruno Sakura had defeated an S-Classed Akatsuki member.

By the end of the third year, Haruno Sakura had surpassed her mentor, Tsunade.

By the end of the fourth year, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto had fought side by side in the Fourth Great Shinobi War and had caused many enemy casualties.

As the fifth year drew to a close, Haruno Sakura and the rest of Team 7 had been declared the new generation of Sannin.

However, some would argue that Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto did not deserve the title. Sannin have achieved their accomplishments on their own and with their own power. Sasuke had the Curse Seal that gave him more chakra, and Naruto had the Nine-Tailed Fox to assist him when he could go no longer. And what did Sakura have? Nothing besides her determination to become stronger and protect the ones she loved. Out of all of them, they felt she had earned and deserved the title the most.

Sakura didn't care what the others thought though, she was happy. She could now fight alongside her boys in her own battles and be strong enough to protect them.

And that's all she ever wanted.

"_**I've made amends,**_

_**Ripped it all to shreds,**_

_**And let it go."**_

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Hoped you likee! :) Review pleaseee :P I'm thinking of making a song fic based on Mike Posner's "Please Don't Go". Would you read it?


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